Meta and YouTube say they will run ads for ‘Musk’ documentary after all

Director Alex Gibney’s new documentary about Elon Musk faced an early advertising hurdle after The Hollywood Reporter said several social platforms declined paid promotions for the film’s trailer. The outlets named in that report included TikTok, Meta, YouTube, and X, prompting questions about whether the trailer had been treated as political content. TechCrunch reached out to Meta, which said the advertising restriction was a mistake and that the ads are being restored. YouTube issued an update noting the trailer itself has always been available on the site and that an automated system had temporarily restricted the trailer when submitted as an ad; after review the ad was cleared to run. TechCrunch has also contacted TikTok, X, and the film’s U.S. distributor, Bleecker Street, for comment. X’s refusal to carry the ad follows public criticism of Gibney by Elon Musk, who owns the platform and posted a disparaging message about the director. Reports said Meta, TikTok, and YouTube had cited policies around political content when rejecting the ad; those platforms have varying limits on political advertising — for example, Meta announced last year it would not accept political ads in the European Union, and TikTok says it does not run them at all. Bleecker Street told The Hollywood Reporter it appealed the rejections. “Musk,” which premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, has drawn strong critical praise and held a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of reporting. The nearly four-hour film, which includes interviews with figures such as Justine Musk and Ashley St. Clair, is scheduled for U.S. theatrical release on October 9. Separately, The Hollywood Reporter said Universal Pictures had shown hesitation about international distribution, though Universal later said it will release the documentary in theaters while it finalizes its release strategy.